10 Years

I don't know how it is possible, but J and I have been married for 10 years and one month now (July 27). J and I were able to escape our little ones and spend a week away. We headed up north to Heber and used my parents' house as a bed and breakfast. We did lots of things that we had wanted to do. It was so much fun and the time went by so fast. Here is what we did (I will be linking to videos or posts that J put together of our trip as well) :

Friday, July 22:

We left in the afternoon and made our way up to Heber.

Saturday, July 23:

We got up pretty early and went on a hot air balloon ride in Park City. It was a lot of fun and as the pilot kept telling us what an adventure we were having. The rest of the day we relaxed, took a nap, and watched Harry Potter 7 part 1 for the first time.

Sunday, July 24:

This was more of a family day. Being Sunday we didn't want to be struck down for doing things we shouldn't. So we attended church with my Dad and got to listen to my brother Jim and his wife Crystal speak. After that we headed up to my sister's (Bonnie) house for Kruz's baby blessing. That evening we went over to Jim's house to roast pineapple over his fire pit.

Monday, July 25:

We got up and went to Deer Creek to kayak. It was a nice quiet morning on the lake and we got to see lots of fish jumping. Later that afternoon we floated down the Provo River in a kayak. That evening we had a BBQ with my family and did some fireworks to celebrate the 24th.

Tuesday, July 26:

We made the trek to Antelope Island to do some more kayaking. When we got there is was so quiet—no one was there. We thought it was odd and we soon discovered why it was so deserted. It WAS NASTY! The water was so briny and there were bugs swarming everywhere. Not to mention all the scary spiders that were EVERYWHERE. We almost didn't even get on the water but decided since we had come we had better give it a try. We didn't last too long (the water was like syrup) and then headed out of there. The rest of the day we rested and then went to Harry Potter 7 part 2 that evening.

Wednesday, July 27:

Our actual anniversary. We decided to go biking around Deer Creek reservoir on a trail called Provo/Jordan River Parkway. It was a nice ride with pretty views. We even got to see the Heber Creeper come by (the trail is just above the train tracks). After our ride and lunch we went kayaking again, this time at Jordanelle State Park Rock Cliff. We didn't get much time in because bad weather was moving and it got windy. After a quick trip to Kamas to say goodbye to Bonnie and Kruz, we got cleaned up and headed up to Daniel Summit to have dinner at the lodge. It was really nice and quiet up there and we got to see all the pretty flowers that were in bloom.

Thursday, July 28

After taking advantage of sleeping in one more time we packed up to head home. It was a very quick trip—or so it seemed to us.

While we were away, J's parents (Max and Mary) had our children. They had some adventures too. They played a couple of days and then the air conditioner went out at our rental house. It took a couple of day to get that fixed because it of course happened on the 24th holiday. The kids didn't seem to mind the sleepovers they had a grandma and grandpa's house, though. It made them feel like they were on vacation too. Thank you so much for watching our children so we could get away!

Elle's 1st Day of Preschool

Today was Elle's official day of preschool at Lil' Dude Ranch. Monday I went with her for an orientation day and she thought that she was going to get be have school too. She was a little sad to leave after 45 minutes of talking with the parents. So today she was so so excited and had a hard time waiting for it to be time to go, especially after Amber got on the bus. I had planned on going a little early so that I could get a couple of pictures of her in her classroom and with her teacher. Then as we were about half way there I realized that I had put my camera down so I could get Nathan's shoes on and hadn't picked it back up again! So we turned around and hauled back to get it. So after leaving early we ended up being late. I was able to get a picture of her with her teacher quick before I left. She said that she had a great day and loved it.

Elle on Monday all ready to go to preschool even though it was for orientation.

Elle and Amber both set to go on Monday.

Elle with her teacher Miss Melissa today.

Elle showing off her star she made in preschool.

Elle: See it spells my name E L L E.

Happy girl!

Mom's Graduation

My Mom has been going to school for almost as long as I can remember. Taking a little at a time while we were in school and then doing more once we were off on our own. She worked so hard on very class and I don't think she ever got anything below a A- (maybe in math). After all her hard work she is finally done (hopefully for good for my dad's sake). She graduated with her Family Nurse Practitioner degree on August 12th. I was able to sneak up* to BYU in Provo and be there to support her in all her hard work. You are awesome Mom! I love you. Here is a little video I put together of her graduation.

*made possible by J staying home with the kids.

Amber goes to Kindergarten

I am in shock that this day has come. Amber is in Kindergarten! She has been counting down the days all summer long but it seemed to sneak up on us so fast. I thought that I was going to be okay with her going to Kindergarten because she has done preschool for a couple of years. Then I got home and thought about it and I got a little teary eyed because I couldn't believe that she has gotten so big. She is in real school now! How on earth did it happen so fast? I am sure I will be crying again tomorrow morning when I put her on the bus to school for the first time (I took her this morning). She is so grown up but in my head she is still my little Amber.

Amber on the other hand didn't have any problems just taking off the second we got in the Kindergarten play yard. When she got home from school I asked her what she did and of course like any little kid, all she really remembered was that they got TWO recesses today. When I asked her what else she did she said she couldn't remember. I was able to get a little bit more out of her asking specific questions (did you learn your class rules? did you get to know anyones name?...) but that is all she really wanted to tell me. Here are some pictures from her first day.

Dressed and ready to go.

Amber with her new teacher Mrs. Jones.

Amber lined up with her classmates (can you tell it is red day!?)

She made it home. She got to ride the bus for the first time.

July recap

So I don't know what has happened to the summer but it is nearing it's end. We have been doing quite a bit and I haven't said a think about it on here. So I am going to give you the highlights of July (mostly) via pictures.

We got together with the Picklesimer's again to celebrate the 4th. It is fun getting together and talking while the kids play together. Amber was even brave enough to do a sparkler this year (or maybe it was more like I was willing to let her try this year). Elle was just happy to watch and Nathan was a big chicken and I had to take him inside because he was just crying.

The girls did two sessions of swimming lessons this summer and loved every minute of it. They would have been there for every session if I would have let them. I was surprised how much they learned and how great BareFoot Gymnastics is for swimming.

Living in the heat the best thing to do in the summer is go swimming - which we did a couple of times. The girls were like fish the whole time while Nathan wasn't as interested. He thought it was too loud for his taste. He still had fun but it took some time for him to warm up to the idea.

We decided to take the family to Sand Hollow Reservoir one morning. It was fun and Nathan has decided riding in the canoe is much better than being stuck on shore the entire time. There for a while he had the whole think to himself.
We had a fun time outside on the slip and slide with friends. In 100+ degree weather what else is there to do!?
I finally took Nathan's binky away and he had a hard time going to sleep for the first two weeks so I thought he needed to be done with his morning nap. Boy was I wrong because then this would happen - in the car, on the couch, in his high chair. He has re-adjusted and is doing great sans binky.

Amber and Elle took a dance class this summer (June and July) and loved it. They liked that they got to go at different times and I enjoyed it because then they had a break away from each other. It was fun to watch what they had learned at a performance they had at the end.

There you have it. Most of what we did in July (I will do a separate post for my 10 anniversary trip with J).